Marchand nets winner, pushes Bruins past Preds in OT

Recap: After 38 minutes of scoreless hockey,
Viktor Stalberg scored with 1:56 to go in the second period,
banging home a shot off a rebound past Niklas Svedberg to make it
1-0 Nashville. A recharged Bruins squad tied the game and took the
lead in the third.

Johnny Boychuk came in and ripped a Ryan Spooner feed past Marek
Mazanec to make it 1-1 at the 4:55 mark of the frame. Jarome Iginla
put the B's on top when he crashed the crease and tipped a pass
from Milan Lucic in.

The Preds responded with 5:25 to go, as a slapper from captain
Shea Weber made it through traffic and past Svedberg to make it
2-2. In the extra session, it took just 54 seconds to determine
who'd get the extra point, as Brad Marchand ripped home the
game-winner to send the home crowd out into the
blizzardy (real word?) Boston night happy.

Records: Boston 27-12-2, 56 points; Nashville
18-18-5, 41 points

Key Play of the Game: On the game-winner,
Dougie Hamilton got the breakout going, Patrice Bergeron carried
the puck through center ice and hit Marchand at the Predators' blue
line. No. 63 showed some slick stick-handling moves, putting the
puck through Fisher's legs before wristing one past Mazanec.

Connolly's Commendations: It wasn't always
pretty, as there were a few rebounds the Preds failed to take
advantage of, but kudos to Svedberg for coming up and earning the
victory. The Swedish netminder stopped 33-of-35 shots on the night
and will head back to Providence with a nice feather in his
cap.

Man, does the first line find a way to get on the score sheet
every night or what? Iginla's goal -- set up by Lucic and Krejci --
gave the future Hall of Famer 5-1-6 totals in the last six games.
The former Flame is officially on fire.

Connolly's Critiques: The B's deserve a pat on
the back for looking like a completely different team in the third
after a dud of a middle frame, but their play during that 20-minute
stretch was unacceptably poor. Boston was outshot 16-3, continuing
their trend of laying an egg in at least one period every game.
This was no 60-minute effort.

Notes: Hamilton had just under 18 minutes of
ice time in his return to the lineup from a lower-body injury,
which kept him out for nearly a month. The second-year pro was on
the ice for two goals: Weber's tying tally and Marchand's OT
strike, which he earned an assist on. ... Svedberg was reassigned
to the AHL immediately following the game. ... Carl Soderberg was
also back for Boston after battling concussion-like symptoms. He
earned an assist on Boychuk's goal.

Final Thoughts: After spanking the Preds 6-2
down in Nashville just before Christmas, this was a much closer
contest. Part of that's because Mazanec's first-period performance
was leaps and bounds better than Carter Hutton's was the last time
these two teams met, giving this game a different tone from
essentially the get-go. Boston may have squandered a 2-1 lead late
but, to their credit, they only acquired said lead after potting
two goals in the third and ultimately came away with the two
points.

Next: The Bruins will host the Jets at TD
Garden Saturday at 1 o'clock.